Fed's Jefferson repeats job market could face stress without support

By Howard Schneider

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) -U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson reiterated on Friday that the U.S. job market could face stress if it is not supported by monetary policy.

In remarks prepared for delivery at Drexel University's LeBow College of Business, Jefferson largely repeated comments from earlier in the week that with inflation above the Fed's 2% target and the job market seeming to weaken, "both sides of our mandate are under pressure."

"I see the risks to employment as tilted to the downside and risks to inflation to the upside," with the quarter-point rate cut at the last Fed meeting appropriate as a way to support the job market with slightly easier monetary policy "while maintaining a balanced approach to promoting our dual-mandate objectives," Jefferson said.

He did not indicate if he favors a further quarter-point cut at the Fed's meeting later this month, as anticipated by investors.

He also noted he was speaking without the benefit of the September jobs data that, absent the federal government shutdown underway in the U.S., would have been available Friday morning.

"This is less than ideal," said Jefferson, while adding that he does not "focus on a single report" in deciding on monetary policy.

(Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Andrea Ricci)